Japan
Current Score
Global Rank
Percentile
Last Updated
Ranking Trend
Japan's rank movement over the last 30 days
Score Analysis
Analysis of Japan's policy signalling profile
Japan's WokeMeter assessment score is 55, positioning it within the moderate-high intensity range for policy signalling. Despite a conservative backdrop, the election of Sanae Takaichi as the first female Prime Minister in 2025 marks a significant milestone in gender representation and contributes to the signalling intensity. However, Japan's overall policy signalling remains moderated by limited LGBTQ rights, including the absence of same-sex marriage, although there have been some progressive steps forward. The country also shows corporate governance reforms and emerging DEI initiatives, contributing to its current standing.
The dimension scores illustrate Japan's varied approach to policy signalling. The highest intensity is seen in Legislative/Regulatory Activism with a score of 72.91, indicating a notable engagement in regulatory frameworks. Conversely, Institutional DEI Policy Intensity and Media & Platform Moderation are more subdued, scoring 49.13 and 51.27, respectively, reflecting moderate institutional efforts and content regulation. Speech & Expression Climate and Corporate/Investor Signalling have similar scores, suggesting a balanced but not aggressive implementation of policies in these areas. Overall, Japan exhibits a composite approach to policy signalling that blends traditional values with emerging progressive elements.
Score Breakdown by Dimension
Weighted components of the composite score
Recent Events
Events that influenced this country's score
Japan wants US to stick to trade deal as new global tariffs kick in
Japanese trade minister Ryosei Akazawa warned against any tariff moves that could leave the country worse off than under a Japan-US trade deal agreed to last year, during a phone call with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick as a new round of US tariffs is set to take effect. Akazawa and Lutnick agreed that Japan and the US would work closely to ensure the swift and smooth implementation of projects that are part of a US$550 billion investment mechanism, during a phone call on Monday evening....
China targets Japanese companies over 'remilitarization' concerns
First seafood, then pandas and now Japan's heavyweights. China's commerce ministry has banned selling "dual-use" goods to a list of Japanese companies over worries of military use.
China adds Japanese entities to export control list, turning up heat on Tokyo
China has added 20 Japanese entities to its export control list and 20 more to a watch list scrutinising the trade of select goods, increasing economic pressure on Tokyo in a move that widens the scope of the countries’ prolonged diplomatic row to include some of Japan’s largest companies. Chinese exporters have been banned from shipping dual-use goods – items with military and civilian applications – to the firms and institutions on the export control list, Beijing’s Ministry of Commerce said...
How Japan is revolutionising healthcare with personalised genetic data and targeted exosome therapy
As Japan faces the challenges of a rapidly ageing population, homegrown biotech pioneers are redefining the boundaries of preventative medicine and precision oncology.
Japan’s ‘Traitor Takaichi’ hit with online smear campaign using fake accounts
Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and her government have become the focus of a coordinated, long-term online smear campaign orchestrated by thousands of social media accounts, according to new research. A study by Tokyo-based Japan Nexus Intelligence, which analyses digital public discourse, found that some 3,000 accounts had been actively posting malicious content about Takaichi since late January. The activity surged roughly a week before campaigning for the House of Representatives...
The tragedy of Punch the monkey: why do mother animals abandon their offspring?
Footage of Punch, a seven-month-old Japanese macaque, has gone viral around the world after he was rejected by his mother and formed a bond with a soft toy A baby monkey in Japan has captured hearts around the world after videos of him being bullied by other monkeys and rejected by his mother went viral last week. Punch, a Japanese macaque, was born last July at Ichikawa zoo. He has drawn international attention after zookeepers gave him a stuffed orangutan toy after he was abandoned by his mother. Continue reading...
US will not back out of its tariff deals with UK and others, says Trump trade representative
Promise comes as minister admits to ‘uncertainty’ about new 15% levy on imports from around the world Graeme Wearden: Trump’s trade war risks undermining his hopes of hefty US interest rate cuts The US will not back out of tariff deals it has already sealed with countries around the world, including the UK, the EU, Japan, Switzerland and others, Donald Trump’s trade representative Jamieson Greer said on Sunday. The US supreme court ruled on Friday that many of the tariffs imposed by the US president were illegal, leading Trump to announce a new 15% global tariff on all imports the next day. Continue reading...
The A.I. Evangelists on a Mission to Shake Up Japan
Team Mirai, a political party founded by software engineers, won 11 seats in Japan’s legislature by promising chatbots, self-driving buses and high-tech jobs.
Why the IMF is right to press Japan on its fiscal risks
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is at last showing a bit of spirit. While it might not yet be attacking the egregious economic and financial antics of US President Donald Trump, it is at least turning its attention to the fiscal foibles of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. This matters more now than has been the case in recent years, or even decades, because what Japan does in terms of its fiscal and monetary policy is beginning to have international repercussions. What political...
How the next China shock is shaping hearts and minds
For decades, China’s role in the global economy was easy to define. It made things cheaply and at astonishing scale. “Made in China” became shorthand for industrial capacity. It was often contentious, sometimes admired, sometimes feared. In the years after China joined the World Trade Organization, its firms were deeply embedded in global supply chains, mostly at the lower end of the value chain. They produced for others. Western and Japanese companies controlled the premium segments and brand...